


Wish You Were Here

by The Tinglenator (Misha_McCarthy)



Series: Supernatural One-Shots [6]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Angel/Demon Relationship, Angst, Awkward Romance, Caring, Character Study, Demon Meg Masters, Drabble, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotionally Hurt Castiel (Supernatural), F/M, Flash Fic, Flirting, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, One Shot, POV Castiel (Supernatural), POV Third Person Limited, Protective Castiel (Supernatural), Protective Meg Masters, Protectiveness, Romance, Romantic Angst, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, The Empty (Supernatural), Upset Castiel (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:15:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25955818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misha_McCarthy/pseuds/The%20Tinglenator
Summary: Castiel awakens in the Empty, but this time, he doesn't find himself alone with the "cosmic entity". Instead, he begins traversing the void, and runs into other sleeping angels and demons before the shadowy form catches up. There's one demon who's been on Cas' mind for a long time, and he couldn't help but wake her.
Relationships: Castiel/Meg Masters
Series: Supernatural One-Shots [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1877215
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Wish You Were Here

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot was written before they returned to the Empty in the 15th season, so its portrayal is a bit less accurate compared to how they expanded on it.

Castiel felt himself splayed out, as if having fallen asleep on his stomach. But there was no floor, there was no bed; there was just him. He could sit up and look around the silent and dark expanse, but he couldn't feel what his knees rested on. As he glanced around, it felt like Castiel had his eyes closed- but then again, whenever he looked down, there were his hands, and his bloodied trench coat. Dust was still sprinkling off of it as he rose to stand.

Was this what the reaper, Billie, had referred to? He couldn't imagine a more empty place than this. Castiel made no sound save when he brushed against himself, and there was nothing in sight to create noise, either.

"Hello?" he called. His whisper echoed in his thoughts, but he never truly heard it without walls for the words to bounce back on. This… place, this world, might have been peaceful, but all Castiel could think of was the fact that Lucifer was somewhere in close proximity to Sam and Dean, and that never ended well. There was no light to follow here. No living thing to guide or aid him. He couldn't fly, he could hardly speak, and he couldn't make a call.

So Castiel walked.

On what, he wasn't sure. By what means, he didn't know either. It was a long tread before anything came of the nothingness. Castiel had been left alone with himself once more, but this time it wasn't voluntary. The mantra that repeated itself in his head- to find a way out, to get to Dean, to check on Jack- was eventually drowned out by wonders. How was gravity sustained in such a place? If other angels went here like some sort of Heaven, where was everyone? Would he be alone forever?

The thought of being alone sped up his pace. What was once a jog turned into a run when Castiel could finally see something in the distance. It was small, and didn't get much larger the closer he came to it. Castiel was breathing hard by the time he stood next to the body. They were asleep, and under the face of a young woman, the angel could see the complexion of a demon he didn't know. The tarnished soul from Hell almost looked peaceful as they slept. But demons don't sleep, and neither do angels. Was Castiel even an angel anymore, if he had found himself awaking from what felt like a drawn-out dream?

No, there was no time for an existential crisis while he was in a quiet world occupied by a single demon and himself. There was no time for anything but finding his way out, and preferably before the battery on his phone wore out. If that was a possibility here.

Waking up a demon? Most likely a terrible idea. Castiel had no weapon if it decided to attack, and he didn't want to find out what would happen if you died in this world as well. So instead, he continued to walk in the Empty. Without sound and without direction, he was sure he would get out of it took him a hundred years.

After a while, he began to see more bodies. Some were demons, and some were angels, but for all beings Castiel had the innate apprehension of waking them. A few of the angels he passed by had been dead for hundreds of years. He saw Hanna, and there was no way he would be asking her for help. There were old friends, too. But, for some reason, Castiel felt as though he should be moving forward, away from whatever lay behind him- which was probably just more sleeping figures, judging by what Castiel had found after quite a while of aimless meandering. None of them woke as he strolled by like a solemn grave keeper. He never noticed anyone stir, but he could tell none of them were truly dead. They breathed, and their eyes flicked beneath closed eyelids. He found one creepy old man with a single eye open who slept on despite Cas’ movements.

As Castiel's trek became slower, a feeling of unease grew. He checked, but if there was indeed something following him from behind, he couldn’t make it out. There was simply a mass of bodies as if he had gone on a maniacal tirade. Sometimes the amount thinned, and sometimes he went around a pile that almost had demons stacked on top of angels. Castiel worried he might be going insane until he came out of more ponderous thoughts and found himself in the middle of nowhere again. It was probably where he had started from.

 _New direction_ , he told himself. His mind played tunes he had heard in the Impala many a time to substitute for the overwhelming mute. The shuffling of his coat became as incessant as a ticking clock. Castiel wasn't tired, but he no longer felt the desire to continue through the Empty. He felt almost wary, weighed down by an invisible force. What was there to gain from this?

It had been a while since he had seen anyone. Perhaps this was a good place to lay down and think things through before heading onwards. Should he be proceeding opposite the way of the exit, he might be able to figure it out and correct his course. But mostly, he just wanted to sit down again. The weariness of his brain, but not his limbs, reminded Castiel of being human. Human existence meant pain and loss and animalistic tendencies, but it had also allowed him to feel more emotions and desires than he ever had, before or after. Being human reminded Castiel of pleasures he only now dreamed of feeling, and sleeping reminded him of being human. He wanted to be human again. He wanted to _sleep_.

Then, his face met the non-existent floor and Castiel felt his legs untangle themselves. He had to get up again, to get out. How else would he fulfill his promise to Kelly? The dread he might have felt from an unknown presence still lingering behind him was washed away by the idea that he could sleep, if just for a couple hours, and then continue. There was no way to tell how much time he'd spent here. So what was a little longer? Nothing that wouldn't-

A certain mess of blonde hair caught his eye. She was off to his right, laying on her back the way she had left the world. Castiel knew the shape of her body like his own vessel. _Meg?_ He rose and wandered, slowly, to where she slept. There was still a knife wound in her shirt, her clothing was still dirtied, and her hair was still in knots. His hands found their way to her cool cheek as he crouched and remembered some of the last words they had exchanged with each other- under Naomi's control, no less. _If they managed to escape with the tablet, if they could get past the demons on guard and slip it out under Crowley's nose…_

The thought of how the Winchesters had described her death as she stood against Crowley flashed through his mind while she took a deep breath in and opened her eyes. Her hands were instinctively feeling for the knife wound that was no longer tearing her skin apart, but had left a rip in her clothes. Eyebrows were pinched together as she stared straight up at Castiel. "Clarence?" she asked, the most minuscule smile on her lips.

He should have been there for her. He shouldn't have fled from Dean like that; he should have ensured _everyone_ was able to get out safely. Meg sat up as he continued to silently kick himself and she glimpsed around at the vastness of the Empty. "Uh… where the hell are we?"

"I believe it's called the Empty. It seems that both angels and demons come here when they die." He joined her in staring out at nothing.

She gave him a weird look. "You're kidding."

Castiel heard an odd sound behind him and stood up in time with Meg. "Ah, yes, that would be correct." The voice belonged to… him? "Yes, quite right, quite right. In your comprehension, that is to say, your limited little minds."

"Well, you're certainly more spunky than Clarence. Who are you?" Meg asked in place of him.

"You can call me your friendly neighbourhood cosmic entity." The thing smiled in a weird way and began to pace. "Ah, but, one that likes to sleep, yes? Yes. But you're awake. Well, _you_ were awake first." It pointed to Castiel. "Which means I'm now awake. So what's up, smart guy?"

Castiel wavered in place awkwardly. "I'm not sure."

"Then think, idiot!"

"He's obtuse," Meg cut in, looking at Castiel, "But he's not an idiot. Your little beef is probably with God, always playing fav-"

"Nope, no. _I'm_ the only one who has some say around here. Not Heaven or Hell or your daddy upstairs. So are you gonna spill or what?"

"Maybe Sam and Dean did something." Castiel offered, looking incredibly unsure of himself.

"Not how it works." The entity shook its head as if disappointed and touched Castiel with two fingers to his forehead. It flashed through the angel's memories, forcing him to recall when man was first developing to the time he was possessed by hundreds of leviathans, trusted Metatron, and said "Yes," to Lucifer. Was that really all he had ever accomplished on Earth? Killing some Nephilim and causing massive disasters? "Hmm," the entity said, as if in answer. "Well that's some shit if I ever did see it. Why is anyone bothering to wake _you_ up?"

Castiel opened his mouth, but decided to close it after a moment.

"Yes. Well. Best get to sleep then, hm? Just have a nice little nap and stop pestering me like little rodents and gnats, would you?"

Meg rolled her eyes. "Look, pal, I ain't missing a chance at oblivion sex." She gave Castiel a look he couldn't decipher. "Sounds kinky."

"I cannot stay for… sex." Castiel admonished. "I must go. _We_ must go. Dean-"

"Enough with the ex talk, _Cas_. God, you really know how to drive a girl mad."

Castiel didn't know if he should apologize or attempt to kiss her again, but before he could decide on anything the entity grabbed her shirt, beating her with a bloodied fist. At first she grunted, but after the psychopath's surprise element had faded, she simply took it. When Cas went to intervene, whatever-it-was flicked its hand to the side and sent the angel flying. "Ah, Castiel, this is MY bargaining chip. Send you back, you say? Eh, no. You're going to go to sleep now."

Meg looked at where Castiel sat up and saw the wistful look in his eye, the one he liked to give Dean- or when he thought of Dean- or basically any time he wanted to help save the world again. It was cute. It was driven. And she could respect that if someone had managed to wake him up all the way out here, there must be something going down. He needed to be on Earth, where he was wanted. She wasn't wanted anywhere. "No. Send him back. Keep slapping me around if you have to, it's kind of a turn on."

The thing that made itself appear to be Cas growled. "I'll terrorize you for an eternity."

"Then I'll fight you for an eternity." Castiel volunteered.

"And I'll scream for an eternity. That won't keep you up, will it?" Meg demanded sarcastically.

It raised its hand. "If I send him back, we both go into a long, peaceful slumber." It breathed into Meg's face, still holding her up to its own contorted complexion.

"Fine," she said.

Castiel heard the loudest sound since waking in the Empty pour from his mouth, but it was drowned out by a cold, hard snap.

* * *

Generous warmth. Nagging light. Rough pavement. Castiel stood up on weak legs and found the sun to be in his eyes as he stood gazing past a chain-link fence into the green fields beyond. There was some service station in view, and a house set incredibly far back from the road.

Had it been a dream? Would Meg have ever truly done that? He scowled in doubt. No, she was a demon, and demons don't make those kinds of sacrifices. She hadn't needed to so readily stay behind... just as Crowley hadn't needed to so readily cast the spell that he knew would be his demise.

There was a phone in his pocket, still at half battery. He could call Dean with it and find out what had happened with Jack. Or Lucifer, more importantly. The Winchesters had to have made it out, right? The sun came from behind some clouds as if to pester him with confirmation.

Castiel scuffed his shoes as he ambled along the rough pavement. His hand stayed up near his face so he could see past the nagging light, though he was still bathed in generous warmth. It just wasn't her warmth.


End file.
